Fly swatter



INVENTOR.

WMP/vins Dec. 28, 1954 E. s. KING FLY SWATTER Filed Aug. 2o, 1953 w N Xarxa/z? United States Patent() FLY SWATTER Earnest S. King, Minneapolis, Minn. Application August 20, 1953, Serial No. 375,542 7 Claims. (ci. 43.-137) My invention relates to swatters for use in killing flies or 'other insects, and has for its general object the provision of a folding or collapsible swatter, the overall length v of which may be reduced for convenience of transportation, storage or carriage upon a person.

A further o bject of my invention is the provision of novel mechanical means for projecting or actuating the swatter blade for striking the insect, thus greatly increasing the rapidity and suddenness with which the swatter str ikes as compared with the ordinary hand-swung device. With this in view I provide means for retracting the blade and placing it under resilient tension, whereupon it may be suddenly released and projected toward its object with a snap action which will assure the destruction of the insect before it can possibly take flight.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a devi'ce of the class described which may be relatively inexpensively produced, may be relatively easily assembled and disassembled, and which all parts but the resilient means are extremely durable.

A still further object of my of a device of the class described in which a conventional rubber band may be utilized as the resilient means whereby to minimize the cost and effort of replacement of this portion of the device when breakage or wear make such replacement necessary.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class described which, because of its relatively positive mechanical snap action, provides a constant source of interest, if not amusement, to both adults and younger people.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specilication, appended claims, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

Fig.v 1 is a perspective view of my novel structure showing use thereof;

Fig. 2 is a view in plan drawn on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation on the same scale as Fig. 2, some parts being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a view in transverse section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view in longitudinal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3', and

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates in its entirety an elongated body having a laterally or downwardly projecting handle 2 at its rear end, in the nature of a pistol grip. Body 1 includes a pair of parallel upper and lower rails 3 and 4 respectively which extend forwardly of the handle 2. At their extreme forward ends, the rails 3 and 4 are provided with aligned bifurcations or notches 5 which are adapted to rotatively receive the trunnions 6 projecting from opposite sides of a cylindrical rotor 7. The rails 3 and 4 intermediate the handle 2 and rotor 7 provide a guideway for an elongated slide element 8. As shown, the upper end portion 9 of the handle 2 is secured between the rails 3 and 4 at one side thereof so as to limit outward movements of the slide element 8 in that direction. Secured to the intermediate portions of the rails 3 and 4 is a cross member 10 which is in longitudinal alignment with the portion limits movements of the slide 8 in the At its forward end the Slide 8 is prevented from lateral invention is the provision 2,697,895 Patented Dec. 28, 1954 ice movements in the opposite direction by means of a lip 11 secured to the outer side of the lower rail 4 and projecting upwardly therefrom. A relatively thick rear end porion 12, secured to and forming a portion of the rear en engagement of its rear edge portion 13 with the forward edge portion 14 of the upper end Normal forward movements of the slide 8 in the guideway formed by the rails 3 and 4 is limited by engagement of the forward edge portion 15 with the rear edge 16 of the cross member 10.

from the body 1 A trigger 17, projecting downwardly in the same plane as the handle 2, is secured to the rear end portion of the relatively thick element 12. The upper end 18 of the trigger 17 projects upwardly beyond the lower extremities of the upper rail 3, and thus the trigger 17 by engagement of the upper and lower rails 3 and 4 prevent accidental removal of the rear end portion of the slide 8 in a direction opposite to the upper end portion 9 of the handle 2. It should be noted at this point that the rails 3 and 4 as well as the slide element 8 are formed from flexible resilient material such as Lucite or other synthetic plastics. Hence, in order to remove the slide 8 from its guideway, it is necessary to place the trigger 17 midway between the edges 14 and 16. Thereafter, the rails 3 and 4 are bowed intermediate these points so as to permit the upper edge portion 18 of the trigger 17 to be moved laterally toward the opposite side of the upper rail 3. To insert the slide 8 into the guide provided by the rails 3 and 4 and the elements 9, 10, and 11, a reversal of this action is necessary, and to facilitate bowing of the rails 3 and 4 intermediate the edges 14 and 16, I provide a thumb notch 19 which is adapted to receive the portion 18 of the trigger 17. When pressure is exerted upon the rear end portion of the slide 8, separation of the rails 3 and 4 intermediate these points will follow due to the cam action of the portion 18 upon the notch 19. Immediately forwardly of the trigger 17 and intermediate the rails 3 and 4, the relatively thick portion 12 of the slide 8 is'provided with a linger-receiving aperture 20, which is notched to provide a rearwardly projecting tooth 21, the function of which will hereinafter become appar- The forward portion of the slide 8 is provided with an aperture 22 which, preferably and as shown, has a laterally extending passage or opening 23 adjacent its rear portion to facilitate the insertion into the opening 22 of the intermediate portion of a exible strap 24 when the slide 8 is removed from the guideway provided by the rails 3 and 4 and the elements 9, 10, 11, and 17. The overlapping ends of the flexible strap 24 are apertured for reception of the radially projecting nger 25 on one side of the rotor 7. Projecting radially outwardly from the rotor 7 on the opposite end thereof is a similar finger 26, which is adapted to receive one of the closed ends of a conventional rubber band 27, the opposite closed end of which is looped over the tooth 21 associated with the rear end portion of the slide 8.V As shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 5, the strap 24 and rubber band 27 project rearwardly from opposite sides of the rotor 7, and to prevent the rubber band 27 from coming olf the finger 26 during partial rotation of the rotor 7, it is preferably wound about the peripheral surface of the rotor 7 somewhat more than one convolution.

Projecting radially outwardly from the rotor 7, intermediate the lingers 25 and 26 and in the same plane thereas, is an arm 28 to which is secured a perforate swatter blade 29. It will be noted that the constant tension exerted by the rubber band 27 upon the rotor 7 will be sufficient to retain the trunnions 6 within the aligned bifurcations 5 in the rails 3 and 4.

In practice, as shown in Fig. 1, the hand is caused to engage the handle 2 in the manner of a pistol. The first finger is placed in the aperture 20 and the big linger is caused to engage the depending portion of the trigger 17. This double engagement of the slide 8 results in quicker and smoother operation of the rotor 7, and hence quicker and more efficient snapping action upon the swatter blade 29. The rotor-equipped forward end of 3 the body 1- is then positioned sufficiently close to the fiy or Other insect u to cause impingement of the. swatter of the operator upon the slide 8. y eyice may be readily assembled and disassembled guideway intermediate said handle and said rotor, a slide element in i of said slide. in

nation with by engagement with said body.

The structure detined in claim 5 in which said body includes` upper and lower parallel rails which define the upper and lower limits of said guideway, and in which said slide element is provided with a fnger-receiving opening intermediate sald rails and lmmediately forwardtooth for detachable engagement of said rubber band.

7. A fiy swatter comprising an elongated body having a laterally projecting handle at its rear end and a rotor at its forward end, said rotor being journaled on an axis substantially parallel to said handle, said body defining a longitudinally extended guideway intermediate said handle and said rotor, a slide element in said guideway, means limiting movement of said slide in said guideway in a forward direction,

extended position longitudinally outwardly of the body to a retracted position in side by side relation therewith, flexible linkage connecting the forward end of said slide element to said rotor,l and yielding means interposed between the rear end References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED vSTATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,225,971 Keste'r May 15, 1917 1,293,591 Whaley Feb. 4, 1919 2,496,415 Sharpe Feb. 7, 1950 

